It's that time of year again! Show season is upon us and we're getting started in the right direction with our first Poultry Show of the season. The kids participate most years in the local, Hartwood Days Festival's Youth Poultry Show. This year's show was even more fun since many of the kids' friends participated with thier birds. There are always other animals at the show and since we were picking up four NEW Lionhead Rabbits at the show, we went ahead and entered those as well!
It was a tough decision on who to take this time, as you've read in our post on deciding who to take to a show, you always want to take the bird that is the best representation of the APA and ABA Standards of Perfection (SOP). For us, it was difficult because most all of our birds over a year are molting. Our choices were to either take birds that were molting and hope everyone else's were also or take younger birds that hadn't quite filled in yet.
Alyssa chose to do both. Alyssa decided to take Clover, her recently acquired Bearded White Silkie from Kippen Paradys Silkies. Clover is still young, not fully filled out but she's already a beauty. She came from Paint breeding and has one tiny little black spot at the base of her crest in the back. We thought she might be too young to place but since the older hens were molting, Clover it was. Much to our surprise, the judge, Tom Roebuck, seemed to really like her. Clover was the star silkie of the day! She ended up bringing home- Reserve of Show, Reserve Bantam, Best Featherleg (class), Best in Breed, AND Best Variety as a white Silkie! We were thrilled with her results. She's definitely the newest princess on the block!
Since she's not only gorgeous but sweet as pie, Alyssa also used Clover for her showmanship bird. Alyssa was confident with Clover and is so famililar with the silkie breed, she managed to pull out a 2nd Place Win in the Intermediate Division of Showmanship!
Alyssa also took Rico, our handsome Bearded Calico/Porcelain Silkie Rooster. Rico won 1st place Silkie Rooster and even better, Best AOV (Any other Variety) of the Show which is the highest he's able to win since his color isn't recognized!
Alyssa's third bird was Red John, our BBR Phoenix rooster. Red John also brought home a ribbon, winning Best in Breed! The judge spent some time speaking to Alyssa and I both about him and even though Red John is in a current molt, he was quite pleased with his feathering and commending her on his tail length and quality.
Next up was Chance. We all knew who Chance was bringing to the show. Blue & Splash Bearded Silkies are his forte and his passion. The challenge for Chance was that his very best were either molting or broody. What to do? After careful consideration and some bathing and blow drying, Chance chose to pull three hens off of their nest.
Mama Sassy is his oldest and probably most spoiled bearded Blue Silkie hen. Her name is Sassy but she's earned the term Mama Sassy for her tenure and the amount of gorgeous chicks she's produced here for Chance. Mama Sassy didn't let us down, she brought home Best Variety of the Blue Silkies. Even coming off of a nest full of eggs she's been on for a couple of weeks now!
Although Blueberry was bred as a Blue bearded Silkie, has shown at the state shows as Blue, and from her offspring, we know she is genetically a Blue, the judge insisted she's a Black as far as showing. Her coop tags were changed from a Blue bearded Silkie to a Black bearded Silkie. That's okay! It's just another opportunity for a win for us in the Black variety and Miss Blueberry took full advantage of it, bringing home Best Variety for the Black Bearded Silkies AND Reserve of Breed overall of the Silkies, next in line to Clover!
Jade was the bearded Splash Silkie hen he chose to bring, as usual. Jade is one of Chance's favorite birds and she's just stunning. Even coming off of the nest for the day to attend the show, she showed like a true professional. Jade won Best Variety as well. Chance also used Jade for his Showmanship bird and they brought home FIRST place in the Intermediate Division in Showmanship!! He knows his birds, especially his Silkies!
What I loved about the three ladies above is, when Chance brought them home from a long day of being beautiful at the show, they drank a little, ate a little, and silkie swayed thier way back up into the nesting box, moving the other hens out of the way to hop back in the pile up on top of thier eggs! Those are some real hens!
Briana, of course, is our Partridge girl. She's been working on her Partridge now for some time, if you remember, she won Best Variety and Jr. Champion Featherleg last November at the State Show with her Partridge hen, Toffee. Her Partridge never let us down, thanks to the mentoring and blood lines she's obtained over the years from such greats as Sandy Thompson from Bat Cave Silkies.
Our Partridge are in TERRIBLE condition right now, however. Their pens look like they've been having pillow fights each night with the molting and feathers dropped, not to mention three just came off of the nest from hatching chicks. Briana really only had one choice to represent her Partridge at this particular show and it was to take Titmouse. A very young Partridge pullet she produced from Levi & Toffee. Titmouse is beautiful but young and not nearly as full as she's going to get. Again, with an "It is what it is!" attitude, we bathed and dried her and caged her up. We should have known that line can't hide it's beauty, even in a young pullet as Titmouse also came home with 1st place Pullet and Best Variety!
Briana chose her Bantam Salmon Faverolles for her second birds to bring. Again, with the more mature hens molting, she had to bring a young pullet and a rooster who was molting - but in better shape than his hens so Tiger and Cheetah came along. I'm not surprised that Cheetah beat Tiger, pulling out Best in Breed since Tiger was missing his sickle feathers! Cheetah also won Reserve Champion Featherleg, however! Tiger won Reserve in Breed also which isn't too shabby!
The girls' best friend, Hannah also did very well, winning Best American and Best in Breed with her Delaware and Best Continental AND Best in Breed with a White Leghorn we ended up bringing home with us for our Yokohama project. She also took 3rd place in Showmanship in the Intermediate division! All of the kids that showed did an amazing job, I was so proud of how far they've come, especially our APA-ABA Youth kids!
All in all, most importantly, it was a fun day! The weather was a little gloomy as it rained on and off and the wind picked up to drop the temperatures but when you have friends and farm animals- you know you have to enjoy yourself! I'm very proud of the accomplishments of the kids and the success of our farm but most excited that they've grown so much in the fancy the past couple of years. There were jokes made about Chance as he accepted his 1st place Showmanship trophy that he must know he'd won and I thought back to just four years ago when they were nervous and fidgety and couldn't answer half of the judge's questions and I smile! These wins haven't come easy and have been gained with a lot of hard work and dedication, they deserved them! Thanks for sharing in our success! Our next show is in November so be ready for some more (hopefully) awesome results!
Meet the Flock ~ Our Wonderful Blue & Splash Silkies
It's been awhile since I've introduced you'll to the chickens that make it all happen here at The Egg Basket. We've really been moving things around, adding new Exhibition birds to our flock, hatching a TON of chicks, and making decisions on where we want to go with our lines. I think we're finally where we want to be (for now ;)) with our breeders, layers, and lines.
One of the runs we've made quite a few additions to is our Blue & Splash Silkie flocks. Chance made the impressively responsible decision to focus on his Blue/Splash variety Silkies and sold his Golden Lakenvelders (we are no longer carrying that breed) to make room. It was a difficult but important decision in ensuring he has the room to continuously improve on his line. We added some gorgeous new birds and we can't wait to introduce you to our new and complete Blue & Splash Silkie flocks.
The Strong Handsome Roosters~
Now, you'll know I'm a fan of roosters. I've been known to stand up for them time and time again and I truly dislike the way they're treated amongst many who raise chickens. I'm for the humane treatment of ALL animals but I also think roosters, in general, get a "bad rap." I digress, here meet two of the sweetest roos you'll ever see. Our two Splash Silkie boys are true gentlemen!
Meet Jordan!
Jordan (in an awkward angle and with a fresh crest cut above) was our first Splash Silkie rooster. He's been with us since he was just a few days old. Jordan was named Seleena for many months, but don't tell him that! He's grow into such a handsome rooster!
He's friendly and caring to his ladies. How in the world would we know a rooster is friendly to his ladies? Well, whenever we provide treats or he finds food while free ranging, Jordan calls to his ladies and alerts them to it. A lot of roos do this, but Jordan will not ever eat it until his girls have all had some first! Whenever they're out free ranging, if one of the other roosters back in the coops make too much noise while his women are trying to enjoy some grazing time, Jordan runs (in his chubby legged funny little way) right back over to the coops to huff and puff at them!
As I mentioned, Jordan's crest looks light right now because we gave him a well-meaning "haircut" after housing him in his breeder's coop/run. Sometimes this is necessary for Silkies so they can see better to, "get the job done" when breeding. In his prime, pre-crest cut, (below) Jordan was an excellent show cockerel. He most recently placed 1st Cockerel at the State Show here in Virginia, the VPBA Fall 2012 Poultry Show. He may head back into some later Fall shows this year after he grows that glorious full crest back out but we'll see. He may be a "made man" these days!
Meet Toby!
I knew from his first day here that Toby was the perfect fit! Right out of his shipping box from a long Two day trip from North Carolina, rather than being high strung or frazzled, he let Chance hold him and he even fell asleep in his arms as Chance rubbed his crest! Not all roosters are so docile! This was Toby's first day- first HOUR with us after we picked them up from the post office. You can tell because he still has watermelon in his beard from the fruit his other kind mama put in the box to keep him well during his journey to us!
Toby and Jordan could have been twins with their gentle personalities! I couldn't have chosen more perfect roos for these pens. I, in fact, did not choose Toby but a dear, caring friend did. She said she knew in her heart that he and Chance were perfect for each other! It doesn't get better than that, now does it? Toby has proven himself to be better and better with each day he's been with us. He's also gentle and kind with his hens and Toby and Jordan even free range their ladies together now without any issues. They are probably the ONLY two roosters we can do this with and not be on guard for any trouble!
Not only is Toby a complete gem as far as personality but...WOWSA! Look at this man! He's an incredibly good looking Silkie rooster. Chance absolutely can NOT wait to show Toby at the next show he can! Toby has already been shown successfully by his previous owner and won in Three different states!!! It doesn't get much better than that, except he's also an amazing breeder! We're so blessed to have Toby running our second Blue/Splash pen and VERY grateful to have him as part of our flock for so many reasons!
The Pretty Caring Ladies ~
Meet Sassy!
Sassy is the sweet, gentle mama hen of the Blue/Splash pens. She's 2 1/2 years old and has the maturity and kindness of an older woman but still blesses us with gorgeous chicks. Sassy has been a successful show champion and is a prime example of beauty & grace.
Meet Luna!
Now, a group wouldn't be a group of any kind without at least one Drama Queen! Luna is the "Bad Girl" of the bunch. She's feisty and likes to have things her way among the other hens. Luna insists on having her fair share of "personal space." She adores Chance and enjoys his company so long as the other hens don't crowd in! Luna is 1 1/2 years old and also has her fair share of wins in her show belt.
Meet Blueberry!
Blueberry is a working beauty! If there's dirt, compost, pine chips around, this girl is going to dig it. She's the miner and housekeeper for the pen, constantly scratching and moving the soil around. When the runs need to be raked, Blueberry's is always the easiest because she's composted it all for us! Between her mining and her eating habits, she keeps a messy face, Chance stays busy keeping her beard clean! Another Show Winner, Blueberry isn't your typical beauty queen, she likes to roll her crest back and get scratching and unearthing wiggly treats as much as any LF farm bird.
Meet Jade!
One look at Jade and you see type and crest! Chance has nicknamed Jade, "Pom Pom" because of the perfectly fluffy, round crest she sports. On other days we call her the Tornado Jade because of the fast pecks she can hand out to the younger juveniles that try to face her. Most of our seasoned juveniles know Jade has no patience for them and doesn't want to bother with having her place in the pecking order challenged. She saves all of her lovely attention for us and Jordan! She's known to fall asleep in our laps once she's completed her grazing and wants a nap.
Meet Jackie!
I'm sure you see a theme here, I think ALL of our chickens are sweet and amazing! I guess that's how all Farm Moms feel! Jackie is another snuggler, and she loves to talk to us. If I make the mistake of approaching the runs or coming to let Miss Jackie out with ANY type of food in my hand, Jackie baby lets me know! She's a chatterbox always talking to us and letting us know her thoughts! She wanted me to let her fans know that she just finished hatching and brooding a chick for the first time so she's a little light in the cushion and crest right now, it will fill back nicely and she'll be back entering the show arena by Fall!
Meet Lilac!
Ah! The lovely Lilac. I've been a fan of this girl since we hatched her 6 1/2 months ago. Lilac is a Blue split to Lavender Silkie pullet. She's absolutely stunning (and kind of course!) I'm in love with her wings, her cushion, her look! Lilac is quiet compared to Miss Jackie but just as loveable. She's been laying for just a couple of weeks now and we'll begin setting her eggs in a couple more. Lilac is currently housed with Jordan and I can't wait to see the beauties they produce!
Jordan with his girls.
The Younger Blues~
Meet Meaty!
Meaty is quickly becoming one of my favorite juveniles. Meaty was the very first offspring of Jordan and Jackie hatched 1/29/13. He's a talker like his mom and a gentle snuggler like his Dad. This boy is for sale - most days! I continue to hang on to him because I've fallen in love with the young cockerel but he will eventually need to go to a home with his own ladies. Meaty has exceeded our expectations and we're very proud to have hatched him. As the first of Chance's "line" he proves there are great things to come from our Blue/Splashes!
Love what you see? We do occasionally have chicks and/or Fertile Hatching eggs available from our Blue/Splash Silkie lines. Visit our website here for what we currently have available or to be added to our waiting list.
Feeling Lucky?
We're giving away 12 FREE Fertile Hatching Eggs over at our community blog, Farm Chit Chat. Hope over to enter the Giveaway, there's plenty of other prizes involved too!
Disclaimer~First, I am not a vet. Let's just get that out of the way. I do not have a degree in veterinary medicine. I am a enthusiastic chicken breeder, keeper, exhibitioner, mama, and lover. I write about my own personal experiences, trials, and triumphs. I'll be honest and always share the very best knowledge I have. What I write is what has worked or not worked for us and what I believe to be the best for the birds. Then you take it for what you will. I don't take credit for all of this information either. I only share what I've experienced and things I've gleaned at some point from my mentors, other reputable breeders, friends and avian docs.
I started this post with all of that rambling because wry neck is not always simple, not always treatable, and IMHO not something you want in your breeding stock. I know a sweet woman who lost her beloved Silkie to it just last night as I happened to be completing this post.
Wry Neck, or Crook Neck as it's sometimes called, is an unfortunate SYMPTOM in chickens that causes their necks to become twisted. Often times they start with the appearance of a "crook" or a hook shape in their neck, hence the name. It can then advance to them tucking their heads to the point it is actually between their legs. At that point, they often back up and tumble over. In our most severe case, Eleanor seen above, she also spun in circles and walked backwards in the beginning. Now she's to the point that after tumbling over, she flails and flaps and becomes quite distressed until my daughter holds her head and talks gently to her.
The causes of wry neck vary. Remember, it's not a disease in itself but rather a symptom/condition that occurs due to an injury, deficiency, disease, or toxin. This can vary from case to case. Out of my own 4 cases, I believe there to be 3 different causes.
One of the main causes seems to be good old genetics. In, The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow, she writes, "Two common hereditary defects, wry neck and wry tail, are caused by recessive genes, meaning they show up only when two birds are mated and carry the same gene."
I've seen this as 2 of our 4 chickens came from the same line. You might say 2 doesn't "prove" a genetic flaw and I agree. However, when you think of it as 2 out of only 8 that hatched from a dozen, that changes the picture. Add to that a cross beak and a one eyed chick to those same 8 and I felt there was enough evidence for me to believe there were some genetic flaws in the line at work. Needless to say, of the chicks from that line, it was enough for me decide to chalk up the fertile egg expense to a loss and those chicks of that 8 that survived were to be kept strictly as egg (consumption) layers and pets either here or re homed at a friend's house for the same purposes. They were not and would not be used for breeding here.
Another cause is a vitamin deficiency. We've had one such case of this and in terms of treatment and recovery times, this has been our most successful. Some breeds are more prone to vitamin deficiencies than others. Silkies, for example, are known to have a more difficult time with the absorption of Vitamin E, thus resulting in deficiencies. Birds that are on poor diets or fed too much scratch and/or corn are more likely to develop the Vitamin E deficiency for the same reason any human would. If we were to stuff ourselves with chips and junk food and cut out our healthy foods then we too would, obviously, develop vitamin and mineral deficiencies and with that health problems of our own. No chicken should ever be fed a diet of corn or scratch grains alone!
Neurological damage or some type of brain injury is another cause for wry neck. I believe our poor Eleanor suffers from this cause of her wry neck. Injuries occur from all kinds of incidents. Silkies and Polish are more susceptible because of their vaulted skulls. Their brains protrude from the holes in their skulls and therefore are not protected as in other breeds. A simple but well placed peck to the head that would merely irritate another chicken can easily cause neurological damage resulting in wry neck (or worse) in a Silkie or Polish chicken. With chickens in general, it's important to avoid overcrowding but with Silkies and Polish in particular, one needs to be especially careful. You'll also want to avoid housing these breeds with other more aggressive chickens. Their long and fluffy crests seem to make them targets for picking anyway. We do not house or even brood our Silkies with any other breeds as a basic rule.
Disease and toxin exposure are two other possible causes of wry neck. Chicks are especially sensitive to toxins.
Before going into treatment options, let's talk about expectations. While some cases are mild and you can be blessed with an almost miraculous recovery in as little as 48 hours with vitamin treatment, most are not. I've talked to breeders who have been treating this condition for almost a year before seeing any marked improvement. I had one very young chick die on me within 48 hours even with treatment. I had one recover easily in about a week only to lose her a few months later to a mild respiratory infection that caused barely a sneeze in the rest of the flock. I have one who's recovered and leads a happy, healthy life here although he will never be a breeder and we will never be able to show him because he maintains a crook like curve to the very top of his neck. Then, of course, we have sweet Eleanor who I'm two months into treating. As with just about anything else, the faster you catch it and start treatment the better you may fare.
The Moral Dilemma and Time Commitment
More than likely, if you're still reading this post it's because you have a chicken with wry neck and you searched for treatment options. You're probably waiting for me to "get to the jist." You need to understand its a time commitment with no guaranteed results. At our farm, we always choose life when possible. That doesn't make us right and someone else wrong. It also doesn't make it easy by any means. It's a personal decision with no right or wrong answers.
I know breeders that I respect and admire who believe it's best to cull any chickens with signs of wry neck. You need to know none of the treatments are guaranteed to work; you'll need to commit to medicating twice a day for at least two weeks; many will come out of wry neck only to have it reoccur; even if recovered many will be left weaker and more susceptible to other illnesses; you really SHOULD NOT USE THEM FOR BREEDING; be ready for extra bedding, feeding and care.
Still here? Let's get to treatments.
Separate- First & foremost, move the affected bird from their run/brooder and separate into their own brooder. Make them as comfortable and STRESS FREE as possible. You'll notice the head and neck twisting, backing up, and if they're at the point of flapping and having seizure-like symptoms, those will also present upon any stress. Allow them to rest comfortably in a dim, warm area. I put mine under heat lamps that are raised high. I don't want the brooder at the temperature it is for babies but I do want them nice and cozy. If you've not done this before, watch for signs of overheating if you put them under heat because you don't want them to dehydrate! The other benefit of isolation is that if it IS caused by a disease or an illness, you have quarantined this bird from the rest of your flock and hopefully stopped an outbreak.
What about massaging? I realize many websites, forums, pages, blogs, etc. all say to massage the neck for wry neck to treat it. I heard first hand from two avian vets and several breeders this is NOT the way to go. I tried it (before talking to the vets) on two of ours myself with absolutely no success. Once it was put in proper perspective for me, I understand why. If you look at the causes of wry neck, injury, deficiencies, etc., there's nothing about a massage that would treat or cure those conditions. Not only does it not improve the bird's health, but as we discussed, stress exacerbates the symptoms and so the least handling you can do the better.
Nourish- That brings me to my next step. Make certain they are getting plenty of food and water. Many times they will struggle with eating and drinking. This is often the cause of death for birds with wry neck. They dehydrate making it even more difficult for them to drink and eat and they quickly wither away. If they are unable to eat or drink on their own, you may have to feed them. You don't want to hand feed them and risk aspiration unless you have to so at first just try to gently dip the END (not too far) of their beaks in water with electrolytes (Chick Saver) every hour or so. You need to keep them hydrated and fed! Scrambled eggs are a great way to keep up their protein levels and their energy.
Vitamins- One of the reasons I wanted to go into such detail about the causes of wry neck is so you could understand the benefits of the different treatment options. Vitamins can play a major role in treatment and recovery, especially if caught early and if the vitamin deficiency is the cause for your bird's symptoms.
You'll need to understand that Vitamin E is only absorbed in combination with Selenium. All of the posts online about just giving your chicken Vitamin E capsules without the addition of Selenium are wasting time and money and breaking hearts with the owner doesn't understand what went wrong. You MUST give Selenium in combination with the Vitamin E. You also must be careful because high doses of Selenium can be toxic. Just follow the directions carefully.
You can usually find Vitamin E with Selenium already added in the liquid capsules at many pharmacies, online vitamin shops, and health food stores. Here are a few links from Amazon. I keep these items on hand.
Any treatment you see online for wry neck will usually contain a mixture of multi-vitamins, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Selenium. I personally follow the guidelines that were given to me by two chicken doctors that I trust. My regiment is as follows:
Vitamin E with Selenium- Squirt one capsule of Vitamin E with Selenium into your chickens mouth (under the tongue! so as not to aspirate your bird) for 3+ weeks.
Water Soluble Multi Vitamins- an easy to find one is Poly Vi Sol (yes what you give babies) without the Iron. Please be sure it does NOT have any Iron. Give this for 2-3 weeks.
Probiotics & Electrolytes- You can find these at any Tractor Supply Store. I prefer to buy all of my vitamins and health products from Doc Brown at 1st State Veterinary Supply. I always know he has what I need on hand. Or like with the others, I'm providing an Amazon link. Provide this for 2-3 weeks.
**Rather than using the Poly Vi Sol and separate Probiotic, Doc Brown suggests the Vita-Pro-B & Replamin for your daily Vitamin and Probiotic treatment. I'll leave that to you. I use Doc Brown's suggestion for my breeder flock on a daily basis. When we developed the wry neck, I had not been so it was easier for me to grab the Poly Vi Sol at a local store. If you're prepared ahead of time, like we are now, I'd go with the Doc. You'll still need to add your Vitamin E & Selenium, this is just the Multi Vitamin and Probiotics**
That's my first line of defense. The Vitamin E & Selenium will assist with any deficiencies, the electrolytes will give them energy to get drinking then eating again,
If the wry neck was caused by an injury. You may also want to try something to reduce any swelling or inflammation.
Bayer Brand Baby Aspirin- You can give your chicken 1 of these 3 times per day to help relieve any inflammation or swelling.
You can also try administering a general, broad spectrum antibiotic along with your treatment if you feel the cause is from an illness. My experience has not included this because none of ours seemed to be caused by any bacteria or infection.
If you've tried all of the above and find no improvement within two weeks you need to make a decision.
Prednisone- You can try Prednisone next or decide it's not a fitting life for your chicken. Prednisone is a little on the controversial side, you must be very careful with it. It does wipe out the bird's immune system leaving it susceptible to secondary infections and illnesses. You don't want to overdo it but more importantly, you can't just start it and then stop it abruptly- that's not healthy or safe for your bird.
While giving the Prednisone, you'll want to continue your vitamins (multi & Vitamin E & Selenium), probiotics, and electrolytes. Prednisone would be administered for ten days, tapering it off at the end. You'll have to call your local veterinarian for the Prednisone or you can try the First State Vet Supply.
Keep in mind, relieving your bird of wry neck can be a prolonged process. We find that their bedding needs to be changed frequently because they often spill feed and waterers in their attempts at getting food and water or from the flailing around. We've also spent a great deal of time drying their face and heads from it getting dipped in water in order for them to drink. My hopes are that should you have the unfortunate luck of experiencing wry neck that you can make the decision that is best for you and your flock and things turn out for the best!
I pray this information helps you along your way of taking care of your flock and keeping them healthy!
Incubating & Hatching Chicken Eggs
We ordered hatching eggs last week to continue working on our winter hatching program. We'd already picked up our adorable Paint Silkies to start that project. With this batch of eggs we're continuing with Porcelain, Patridge, Lavender, Buff, and White Silkies as well as some Bantam Salmon Faverolles (Poor Samuel Little needs some ladies to keep him company), and we're helping a young friend out by trying to hatch some of he and his Mom's first Japanese Bantam eggs.
Since we just finished a hatch of Silkie eggs about 7 days ago, I need to first clean and disinfect our incubator. We're using the Hovabator 1588 for this clutch. I disinfect with a Clorox and warm/hot water mix (4 parts water/ 1 part Clorox) then rinse and dry. Always, always clean and disinfect your incubator after hatches and I also like to clean and disinfect it one more time before putting new eggs in. I'm a bit of a nut for biosecurity.
Once I have the housework of it done, I set it up at a Temperature of 99.5 and humidity level of 50-55% for 24-48 hours BEFORE setting the eggs. This ensures our eggs go into proper conditions. I took this photo when I first set up the incubator, about 20 minutes into it being set. As you can see, the temperature is still too low and the humidity was too high. This gave me a chance to make adjustments PRIOR to jeopardizing the chicks' development. If I already have the eggs, we keep them at room temperature and just ensure we rotate them (or be lazy and put them in the egg turner OUTSIDE of the bator like this time) until it's time to put them in. That's what leads us to today!
Hatching eggs should arrived packaged very securely if you're purchasing from another breeder. If you're hatching your own eggs, you won't have to concern yourself with this part. As you can see, this breeder does a thorough job of protecting the eggs from the jarring and tossing that happens to boxes during the mailing process.
She also takes special care of the eggs inside of these bubble wrapped and filler surrounded (I've already removed the newspaper filler that kept the egg cartons from shifting around. THIS type of care and concern is what I've grown to expect and love from my favorite breeders. It's not only professional but it shows great pride in the chickens they raise and I know they want us to have a successful hatch almost as much as we do!
Of course, next we carefully unwrap the eggs, notate the date and which eggs are there (breed, type, variety, condition, etc.) and I mark each of the eggs with the breeder's initials if I'm incubating more than one breeder's eggs. This helps me keep track of which colors and chicks I hatch from each breeder for future use. I also use this information to track things like hatchability and any defects. All of this plays an important role in breeding if you're trying to improve the quality of your birds and not just breeding to do it.
I use an egg turner in my incubator, it makes the job of hatching easier because you won't have to turn them yourself. We put our eggs gently in with the small (pointed end) down into the turner. If you don't have an egg turner, you'll also need to mark an X and an O on opposite sides of your eggs. You'll need to gently turn the eggs three times a day up until Day 18. When you place the eggs in your incubator without a turner, you'll want to lay them on thier side and all of the eggs with either X or O facing up. This helps you remember which eggs you've already turned during those three times a day.
I
I then place my egg turner into my incubator and secure it properly. I usually check on the eggs about every 30 minutes the first few hours. Adding the eggs to the incubator and holding it open while you add them changes your temperature and humidity so you'll want to keep a close eye on that. If the glass begins to accumulate drops of water on the underside of it (if you're using an incubator with a viewing area) then your humidity is TOO high. Open some of the plugs found on it for ventilation. I keep two thermometers and a hydrogmeter in our incubator to ensure I am accurately tracking my conditions. If the humidity is too low or the temperature is too low, close those holes and/or add water. This is why it's so important to have your settings correct before you start. You'll have a better feel for your incubator and much more control over your new chicks' environment. I never have any trouble checking the incubator this often- most of the time my kids are checcking even more often! The big rule is, however, look all you want but LET IT BE! If your conditions are right where they need to be- LEAVE IT ALONE! :) It's hard for me so I realize it's tough for the kids but it's so important.
Now that you're monitoring your clutch carefully- you are all set until Day 7 if you'd like to candle them! Enjoy the anticipation! The closer hatch day comes - 21 days from your first day of incubation- the more it feels like Christmas around here! We'll be back around Day 7-9 to discuss candling!
Alyssa chose to do both. Alyssa decided to take Clover, her recently acquired Bearded White Silkie from Kippen Paradys Silkies. Clover is still young, not fully filled out but she's already a beauty. She came from Paint breeding and has one tiny little black spot at the base of her crest in the back. We thought she might be too young to place but since the older hens were molting, Clover it was. Much to our surprise, the judge, Tom Roebuck, seemed to really like her. Clover was the star silkie of the day! She ended up bringing home- Reserve of Show, Reserve Bantam, Best Featherleg (class), Best in Breed, AND Best Variety as a white Silkie! We were thrilled with her results. She's definitely the newest princess on the block! 
Our Partridge are in TERRIBLE condition right now, however. Their pens look like they've been having pillow fights each night with the molting and feathers dropped, not to mention three just came off of the nest from hatching chicks. Briana really only had one choice to represent her Partridge at this particular show and it was to take Titmouse. A very young Partridge pullet she produced from Levi & Toffee. Titmouse is beautiful but young and not nearly as full as she's going to get. Again, with an "It is what it is!" attitude, we bathed and dried her and caged her up. We should have known that line can't hide it's beauty, even in a young pullet as Titmouse also came home with 1st place Pullet and Best Variety! 
